Ideas of Ronald H. Coase

Laurence W.C Lai is Professor of Planning, Law and Economics in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong.

• Part 1: Intellectual and Policy Context 1. Coase: A Friend or an Enemy of Planning? 2. Coase and Coasian Research on Zoning Part 2: Coase and Market Failure 3. ‘The Problem of Social Cost’, the ‘Coase Theorem’ and Externalities 4. ‘The Lighthouse in Economics’ and Public Goods 5. Coase Theorem and Sustainable Development Part 3: Coase Theorem Applied and Planning by Contract 6. The Application of the Coase Theorem to Planning Research 7. Planning by Contract: a Coasian Model for Sustainable Development Part 4: Concluding Thoughts 8. Conclusion: A Coasian Approach to Planning and Sustainable Development by Communicative Planning

“The seminal contributions of Ronald Coase have been much analyzed and oft misinterpreted by friends and foes alike. With this book, Lawrence Lai attempts to revisit Coase's seminal works and bring to the fore their import for economic policy analysis. Coase's comparative institutional approach offers an important vehicle for the analysis of pressing social issues such as sustainable development, and all those interested in the creation of new platforms for doing policy analysis will welcome this important work.”Professor Steven G. Medema, Department of Economics, University of Colorado Denver